Tools to Help with Racial Equity
The Esri Racial Equity microsite (www.esri.com/en-us/racial-equity/overview) shares resources for national, state, and local government organizations; nonprofits; and businesses so that they can use location intelligence to help address racial inequities. The site has tools and workflows to map and analyze inequities and engage communities. Resources include access to the Racial Equity GIS Hub (gis-for-racialequity.hub.arcgis.com), which provides data sources and relevant content. The site links to the Esri Disaster Response Program (DRP), which will support organizations responding to racial inequities.
ArcGIS Online Users Are Not Affected by Security and Privacy Issues
Microsoft announced a 17-year-old critical DNS server vulnerability (CVE-2020-1350) and provided a security patch. Fortunately, ArcGIS Online does not make use of Windows-based DNS servers and is therefore not vulnerable to this threat. However, Esri recommends that users update applicable DNS servers with the security patch released by Microsoft to protect users’ on-premises or cloud-based deployments.
In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) ruled that the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework was inadequate as a mechanism for complying with EU data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States. Fortunately, through regional hosting—specifically, the EU region for ArcGIS Online—users can store their data in the EU. Esri utilizes a third party to assess the privacy adequacy of its operations.
Use Your Influence
If you aren’t already a member of the ArcGIS Online Early Adopter Community (EAC) program, you should think about joining. As an EAC member, you will have a direct line of communication with the ArcGIS Online team and influence how the software is developed.
Members of EAC represent a wide range of experience levels, industries, and workflows from around the world. Members not only preview prerelease versions and documentation for ArcGIS Online, but they also have access to forums where they interact with other EAC members and Esri product teams. Sign up today at esri.com/en-us/early-adopter.
New Tool to Use Census Data to Fight Pandemic
Esri and the United Nations Population Fund ( ) are collaborating on a new interactive tool that will provide public health workers, policy makers, and the general public with access to useful information on populations vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The UNFPA COVID-19 Population Vulnerability Dashboard will help target preparation and response efforts to help save lives. The dashboard highlights population vulnerabilities at the national and subnational levels, using data from the latest Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) census samples for 94 countries. Daily updates on COVID-19 cases and deaths are embedded in the dashboard.
Esri Named a Leader in Location Intelligence Platforms
The independent market research firm Forrester recognized Esri in The Forrester Wave: Location Intelligence Platforms, Q2 2020 Evaluation. The report acknowledges Esri’s leadership in location intelligence technology and highlights the company’s long-term commitment to the development of a shared global geospatial infrastructure. The report noted, “The key strength of Esri’s platform is its complete set of location intelligence capabilities. It has depth and strength in multiple areas, including data management, data products, spatial visualization and analytics, and location intelligence execution.” To learn more about Esri’s ranking in The Forrester Wave: Location Intelligence Platforms, Q2 2020 Evaluation, visit go.esri.com/ForresterWave2020.
Deadline for HTTPS Only Requirement for ArcGIS Online Extended
Enforcement of HTTPS Only for ArcGIS Online has moved from September 15, 2020, to December 8, 2020, to ensure that all users have a six-month preparation period, as this important security update is likely to affect some ArcGIS software and custom solutions. Esri users need to act promptly to be ready for this change.
The ArcGIS platform uses the HTTPS protocol as a key component of its security for web and service API connections and includes connections between ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Desktop, and ArcGIS Enterprise. HTTPS Only has been a default configuration setting in ArcGIS Online since September 2018. All new subscriptions since then cannot disable HTTPS. For ArcGIS Enterprise, HTTPS Only has been the default since version 10.7. With ArcGIS Enterprise, users have the option of turning this capability off if desired.
